VICRAMADITYA AN'D SALIVAHANA. 241 



this account it is generally added, that the Abbasis 

 sent them away privately in different ships ; but none 

 of the posterity of Nushirvan remained at that time. 

 FiRUz, the son of the last Yezdegird, after the death 

 of his father in 651, fled to Klioten, where he was 

 kindly received; and in 662 was acknowledged king 

 of Persia, by Kaotsong Emperor of China, who 

 made him captain of his body guard. Firuz died 

 soon after, and his son Naniciie was appointed to 

 succeed him in the throne of Persia. In 683, Nan- 

 iciie went toward the frontiers of that country, with 

 an army, to try his fortune ; but meeting with no 

 success, he returned to China, between the years 710 

 and 712, and died at Sigan-fu^. 



The Mahratds are called Maha-rashfras in Sanscrit: 

 Maha is great and illustrious, and Rashtra, synony- 

 mous with Raja-piitra, implies their royal descent; 

 and their name also indicates, that they were acknow- 

 ledged to belong to the second class on their arrival 

 in India, and of course that they were not Brahmens. 

 When they came into Lidia, there was a tribe of Rcish- 

 fras or Raja-putras, called Rators in the vulgar dia- 

 lects, and Oraturoehy Pliny ; there was also another 

 tribe, called Su-Rdsht'ra, or the illustrious royal off- 

 spring. These are called Syrastrce, and their country 

 Syrastrene, by Ptolemy and others ; and it is called, 

 in the spoken dialects, Surdt' and Sorat'. When our 

 new adventurers had obtained power and influence, 

 they assumed the superior title of Mahd-Rdsht'ras ; 

 and by striking out such letters as become useless, 

 when brought to the standard of the spoken dialects, 

 we have Mahd-rdtd Mdhrdta and sometimes Mdhrd- 

 tor, as Rdt'or from Rdshtra.. Thus we have Surdt' from 

 Surdsht'ra, and Gujardt' from Gurjar-Rdsht'ra. 



* Deguignes, Hist, des Huns, Vol. I, p. 5/, 



Vol. IX. R 



